Oldham & District Golf League

STAMFORD ‘A’ picked up two early week wins to move ahead in the ‘A’ East division of the Oldham & District Golf League

They went to the top when they won 6-2 on Monday night in a rearranged game at home to Crompton & Royton ‘A’.

Big wins for Carlton Wheeldon & Andy Angelone (6&5) and Kevin Duffy & Andy Swift (5&4) were added to by Regan Gleister & Richard Morgrave (3&2).

Justin Smyth and Geoff Boyce (1up) got some reward for the travelling Crompton & Royton ‘A’ men.

Then, 24 hours later, Stamford ‘A’ went to Manchester ‘A’ and won 5-3 in a game brought forward due to the Hopwood club hosting a Ladies European Tour event in a couple of weeks time.

Wheeldon found another 6&5 win, this time with partner Mike Leigh. Sam Hudson and Tommy Caffery won 3&2 whilst the Swift-Duffy combination delivered another half against the home pairing of James Allen and Tom Astley.

The Manchester ‘A’ win 2&1 came from James Matthews and Paul Hickinbottom.

Dukinfield ‘A’ and Denton ‘A’ both picked up 5-3 away wins to stay in the play-off picture.

Dukinfield ‘A” beat Manchester ‘A’ thanks to Colin McWiggin & Dean Harwood (4&3) and Carl Varey & Gaz Kershaw (1up) with Matt McLeod & Josh Bradbury halving with David Coyle & Tom Astley.

The Manchester ‘A’ win was from Mark Davies and Chris Hawhe (5&4).

Denton ‘A’ were successful at Crompton & Royton with wins for Amir Nazir & Josh Ellan (4&2) and Zak Gregory & Mark Alexander (1up) with Rees Hobson & Connor McManus halving with Liam Lovell & Gaz Mazynycenko.

Crompton & Royton got a win from Michael Wajtun and Wayne Hurst (4&2).

Across in the ‘A’ East, Brookdale ‘A’ put distance between themselves and the rest with a stunning 8-0 away win at North Manchester ‘A’.

Mark Riley and Noah Shenton led the way (7&6) and they were followed in by Pete Buckley and Michael Gray (4&3), Paul Spence and Charlie Clough (3&2) & Tom Maddocks and Sam Lees (2&1) to move seven points clear at the top.

That was after second-placed Blackley ‘A’ lost 6-2 at Ashton ‘A’ with only Lee Wolstenholme and Dan Williams (3&1) registering points for Gareth Morris’ men.

The home winners were Mark Butterworth and Tim Craig (4&2), Zak Seddon and Jack Butterworth (4&2) & Flynn Taylor and Darren Wilson (2&1).

The battle for play-off places also looks like going down the wire in the B West.

North Manchester ‘B’ beat Werneth ‘B’ 7-1 in a rearranged match.

Aaron Green & Julian Kumah (6&5), Declan Fegan & Mark Green (3&2) and Andrew Bradburn & Paul Tomlinson (1up) got the home wins whilst Gary Hornby and Dai Jones halved with Quentin Cartwirght and Ray Bingham – both pairings making birdie at the replayed first hole – acting as the 18th after tree damage closed the short 11th.

But it was a different story in their respective week-8 games.

North ‘B’ could not maintain the momentum and lost 6-2 at Brookdale ‘B’.

Green and Kumah won again (3&2) but that was North’s only success as Brookdale claimed three wins through Shaun Stephenson and Steve Chalmers (3&2), Ant Boyle and Mark Calley (2&1) & Craig Evans and Vic Scantlebury (2up).

In contrast, Werneth ‘B’ bounced back to win 6-2 away at Saddleworth ‘B’ leaving the Uppermill team still trying to break their duck for the season.

There were halves for home pairings Lee Spratt & Ian Cavanagh and John Walsh & John Millward in their clashes with Pete Cooper and Dave Burton & Simon Flynn and Ray Conboy.

But the visitors powered through with Quentin Cartwright and Richard Temple (5&4) and Paul Handley and Ray Bingham (3&2).

Brookdale’s game in hand against Saddleworth ‘B’ on Monday could prove decisive in the play-off picture.

Over in the B East, Dukinfield ‘B’ took a big step towards joining runaway leaders Castle Hawk ‘B’ in the playoffs when they beat Manchester ‘B’ 7-1.

Wins came from Andy Dewsbury and Reg Whyatt (5&4), Stuart Farquharson and Kevin Parr (3&2) & Darren Love and Ian Rothwell (3&2) with Dan Ormrod and Chris Burnett held to a half by James Taylor and Phil Yates.

Castle Hawk ‘B’ won 5-3 away at Stamford ‘B’ whilst Denton ‘B’ beat Crompton & Royton ‘B’ 6-2.

Abandoned matches have given the team captains a scheduling headache as rearranged games have to be played before the last regular week of the season, which is week commencing July 6.This is to avoid a situation where a team goes into a match knowing what result is required to influence the play-off line-up..

There are currently two vacancies in the A Division – interested clubs should contact ODGL Secretary David Whaley (07764638309).
The League will be pleased to consider friendly matches against teams on a free week to give potential new clubs a taste of better-ball matchplay team matches.

Four-Ball (Better Ball) Match Play: Apply 90% of the difference in Course Handicap.....

Calculation: All four players determine their Course Handicap. The lowest player becomes 0, and others adjust accordingly. Then, 90% of that difference is applied.

* Please ensure that you complete match cards with full names, handicap index, playing handicap and shots allocated - 90per cent of the difference from the lower (please check these as there have been errors on a couple of Cup matchcards)

* Put result of each game indicating which team won each match and the margin of victory.

* It is the Captain’s responsibility to ensure that team members comply with handicap rules – indexes 0-9 A and 8-17 B - and that they have a fully-fledged 20-card handicap with five qualifying cards in the last 12 months.

*Could clubs drawn to host semi-finals please ensure these dates are in the home course diary for catering.

The League was conceived as an opportunity for local golfers to play competitively against other golf clubs in the local area and at the same time develop camaraderie between them. The intention is to enjoy good golf courses with sporting companions in a friendly but competitive atmosphere.

The League was composed of 2 Divisions from the outset but the Cup competition was not introduced until 1980. Initially, the League was based on singles matches in the A Division and the first Secretary was A L Davidson (Saddleworth GC). In those early years, the league was less competitive and League Tables were not produced until the last match of the season had been played! In 1982, Barry Matthews (League Secretary) and Carl Cunnelly (Fixtures Secretary) ran the League on a more organised and formal basis until 2005. In 1991 the end of season Brian Atack Tournament was added to compete for individual and team trophies.

Since 2005, the trio of Saddleworth's John Walsh (Chairman), Ashton's Brendan Kennedy (Secretary) and Werneth's David Whaley (Fixtures secretary) guided the league through an expansion into a four division format with the addition of teams from North Manchester, Blackley, Crompton & Royton and Castle Hawk. The league changed further in 2017 with the introduction of promotion and relegation between the two 'A' divisions and Howard Lawton (North Manchester) took over as League Secretary. In 2023 David Whaley (Saddleworth) assumed the role of League Secretary with Howard Lawton standing down as Treasurer. In October 2025, John Osbaldeston (Crompton & Royton) accepted the role as Honorary Treasurer.